| Free Radical Design Ltd | |
|---|---|
 Logo from 2006-2009 | |
| Also known as | FRD Free Radical |
| Role | Developer |
| Founded | April 1999 (original) May 2021 (revival) |
| Key People | Dr David Doak (Manager) Steve Ellis (Manager) |
| Products | TimeSplitters TimeSplitters 2 TimeSplitters: Future Perfect Second Sight Haze |
Free Radical Design are the developers of the TimeSplitters series. From late 1998 to early 1999, a group of developers at Rare, including David Doak, Steve Ellis, Graeme Norgate, Karl Hilton and more, decided to quit their job to form their own company.
With a team of only sixteen at the end of development, Free Radical Design shipped and delivered the first-person shooter TimeSplitters to Eidos Interactive for the PlayStation 2 launch in October 2000. Despite the time constraints and pressures of building the company and its technology from scratch, they were the only European developer to hit the launch date without any delays.
Original logo from 1999-2006
Constantly seeking to improve themselves and their games, TimeSplitters 2 went into development with an emphasis on evolving the theme with a fuller story and an even more satisfying single player mode. Alongside this expansion, the multiplayer and mapmaker elements pushed the quality and replay value to new heights. Once again, Free Radical delivered. True to form, TimeSplitters 2 came in on time and on budget for Eidos in October 2002. It was met enthusiastically by some of the best reviews of its time.
While TimeSplitters 2 was still in active development, Free Radical Design would also begin work on a new IP in the form of psychic thriller Second Sight, a game they had originally planned to make before the first TimeSplitters - published by Codemasters and released in September 2004 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and later on PC.
With Second Sight still in development, Free Radical's ever-expanding team set to work on TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. Disappointed by the sales of TimeSplitters 2, Free Radical Design would change publisher and work with EA Partners. Alongside the innumerable extra features that fans had come to expect, the single player story took their experience to new ground. Expanding one of the most striking heroes from TimeSplitters 2, the story took man's man 'Sergeant Cortez' through the complex maze of time continuum - utilizing the unique 'meet yourself' gameplay. Future Perfect was released in March 2005 and sold less than its predecessor.
Over the years Free Radical Design had received numerous awards and nominations including CTW Developer of the Year 2001, the DEVELOP Industry Excellence award for Best Independent Development Studio in 2003, along with five BAFTA nominations for TimeSplitters 2 in 2004, and two BAFTA nominations for Second Sight in 2005. Furthermore, they were listed in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 as one of the UK's fastest growing technology companies.
Administration[]
On December 18, 2008, Free Radical Design employees arrived to work to find the doors locked, and instructions to convene at a hotel that afternoon to discuss the company's future says Eurogamer. Control of company operations were handed over to administrators ReSolve Partners LLC.
According to Joystiq.com, the company laid off 140 workers, or roughly 75% of its workforce, condensing the payroll down to a "skeleton" team of just 40 people. All employees were paid through the end of the year. Representatives from Monumental Games were said to be present at the meeting, handing out job applications to the recently laid-off.
FRD co-founders David Doak and Steve Ellis have departed from the company to venture on a new project dubbed Pumpkin Beach, according to Smashpad. The "new" studio was supposedly in-house for several months before the company took a tumble. According to Ellis, Pumpkin Beach will produce fare unlike anything Free Radical Design tried its hand at. However, it has recently been discovered that Ellis will continue work at FRD despite being part of Pumpkin Beach. The current status of Pumpkin Beach is unknown.
There are several theories as to what caused FRD's financial woes. LucasArts supposedly yanked the commission for the independent developer to create the latest Star Wars: Battlefront game. This, combined with mediocre sales of Haze may have spelled the studio's downfall.
The studio was bought by Crytek, a German game studio, and so Free Radical Design then became Crytek UK. Some of the employees laid off at the end of the previous year were brought back onto the Crytek UK team. However, it was never confirmed if TimeSplitters 4 was still in development. The Free Radical Design website was taken down upon the Crytek purchase.
In July 2014, having financial problems of its own, Crytek sold the UK studio to Deep Silver parent company Koch Media, and what is left of the old FRD is now operating under the name Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. However, Crytek retained ownership of the TimeSplitters IP until August 2018.
Revival[]
On May 20, 2021, Deep Silver announced via Twitter that it was reforming Free Radical Design as a new Deep Silver studio (based in Nottingham, England) to create the next entry in the TimeSplitters franchise[1]. It was also announced that the new Free Radical would be headed by Steve Ellis and David Doak (marking the return of 2 of the TimeSplitters franchise co-creators) but that development on a new game had not yet started.
In March 2022, executive producer Martin Wakeley said the studio had about 50 people and was looking to grow to 100. The next month, Free Radical Design was confirmed to be one of the studios using Unreal Engine 5 during the State of Unreal 2022 livestream[2].
On 8 November, 2023, Video Games Chronicle reported that Free Radical Design could close once again as part of Embracer's restructuration plan[3]. Earlier on that day, about 16 people employed at Free Radical Design were found looking for work on Linkedin[4]. Later on 28 November, sources told VGC that Lars Janssen (Plaion VP, Worldwide Studios & Talent) has acknowledged in a company email that Free Radical Design could close before December 11[5].
Gallery[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Deep Silver Twitter post
- ↑ State of Unreal 2022
- ↑ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/embracers-timesplitters-studio-free-radical-faces-closure/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/ts_archiv/status/1722294013242343922
- ↑ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/embracer-ceo-confirms-timesplitters-studio-faces-closure-before-christmas/